Trying out my new kitchen with a classic dinner.
It’s been a few days since I’ve moved into my new apartment, so it’s been a while since I’ve updated anything. Or cooked anything. I’m more bothered about the latter. Over the weekend I’ve bought some basic essentials and decided to try out a standard, classic dish in my life. Pasta with Tomato Sauce is the first thing I ever learned how to make. So it is only right that it will be the first thing I will cook in my new kitchen.
The sauce is really quick and so tasty. I have changed it from my mother’s and grandmother’s recipes and added thinly sliced onions. It gives a sweet flavor to the sauce. I also added a few leaves of my mini basil plant that I had to buy. Something so small makes a world of difference.
The recipe I used makes enough for one person’s dish. You can double it and change ingredients to your liking.
SWEET TOMATO SAUCE
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1/4 medium yellow/vidalia onion, thinly sliced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 can of plum tomatoes and their juice
Salt and Pepper to Taste
A few leaves of basil
3-4 tbsp of water (optional)
1. In a small saucepan, heat the oil.
2. Thinly slice the yellow or vidalia onions and add to the hot oil. Make sure you keep stirring otherwise they get burnt!
3. Smash the garlic, peel it, chop it up, and add to the onions when they start to get translucent.
4. When the garlic and onions get slightly caramelized, add the canned plum tomatoes and their juice. No need to cut them up. You can smush them in the saucepan when you put them in it.
5. Add a few leaves of basil. Rip them up before you put them in. It gets their flavor going.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. As the sauce cooks, add a few splashes of water to loosen it up.
8. Lower the heat to medium. Let simmer until it thickens again and is ready to your liking.
At this point, cook your pasta. This is a marinara sauce and it best with long pasta. I used thin linguini. When your pasta is ready, instead of straining it in a colander, pick up a bunch and let it strain from your fork or pasta spoon. Then add it directly to your sauce pot. The cooking water will meld the sauce together with the pasta strands. And, it is easier to gauge how much pasta you need to get every strand coated.
The finished dish should be pasta with a light and slightly chunky tomato sauce. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and a little Parmigiano Reggiano. It is sweet, comforting, and naturally delicious.
The leftover pasta can be used for something else. As I will show you in the next post. Stay tuned!
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